Urban Breaming

The recent cold snap seems to have really knocked the Tench on the head somewhat if the reports from some of my local lakes are anything to go by. Rather than struggling for a bite on my regular Tench water  i decided to head away from the crowds to the peace and quite of a local club pool in a bid to see if its own population of Tincas had woken up yet. I say peace and quiet but the lake in question is slap bang in the middle of a housing estate and about half a mile from the town center so how quiet can it get? not very is the answer but at least there is no public access to the water which means it remains an oasis of tranquility despite the surrounding urban sprawl!
Ive never had a big Tench from the place, in fact 6lb is probably my best from there but the fish are good lookers due to the clear water and despite being relatively unpressured they dont give themselves up easily. The challenge and the quirky nature of the waters history and location combine to give me real enjoyment whenever i fish there, its not always about catching the whoppers is it?
The wind was very cool and hacking towards the carpark upon my arrival so, not wishing to sit there freezing my tits off all day, i opted to fish on the back of it into the open water of the main bowl. Theres not much in the way of features in the water other than the deep margins but i fancied a chance at some Bream should the Tench not want to play so the open water it was. Ive caught just as many Tench in the open as i have the margins there but ive never caught a Bream in the edge and i had a feeling that bites could be at a premium with such a cool breeze on the water. I set up shop and made several casts to get some bait out there before sitting back to await events.

 Both rods were cast just beyond the edge of the ripple

The left hand bobbin was soon bouncing as the first of a succession of small Roach took a fancy to my double red maggot offering. I didnt mind catching them though as it meant that the Cormorants had left them alone for another winter. I knew they soon disappear once something bigger moved into the swim. After a short while i had just recast and was tightening the bobbin when suddenly the line was snatched out of my fingers! I struck and the rod hooped over as the first Bream of the day nodded its way towards my waiting net.

The First of many!

That fish seemed to set the precedent for the next four hours or so. I had a few Skimmers and Roach in between but i went on to take several more proper slabs mostly averaging between 5-7lb with the biggest one going just shy of 8lb. It was good to see some skimmers coming through as it meant the Bream were at least spawning successfully guaranteeing sport for years to come. Eventually at around lunchtime the bites slowed right down and i was hopeful that the Breams departure might signal the arrival of a Tench or two. After a very quiet spell a stuttery bite resulted in a bit of a surprise for me in the shape of a nice fat Perch of nearly 2lb, a good fish for the lake. Considering that until fairly recently the place was heaving with stunted microperch its nice to see those steadily disappearing and fish like this one coming through.

Brightening my day!

Another similar sized Perch quickly followed before another quiet spell had me thinking about packing up. As i gathered my bits together i had a final bite which resulted in one last slab to cap off a very productive session. Those Tench never did show but another 50-60lb bag of Bream was a pleasing result considering some of the weather weve had of late.

The last fish of the trip